Car-coupling.



R. FOULIDS.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24. we.

1,242,787w Patented Oct. 9,1917.

3 $HEETSSHEET l- @vwemiioz R. FOULDS.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- 24.1916.

Patented. Oct. 9; 1917.

KSHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. FOULDS.

CAR COUPLING.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24. 1915.

Patented Oct. 9,1917.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

- ROBERT rooms, on DENVER, COLORADO.

Fro.

CAR-COUPLING.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

BatentedOct. 9, 1917.

Application filed November 24; 1916. Serial no. 139,,231.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be itknown that I, RoBER'r'FoULDs, citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, .and exact descriptionof the invention, suchas will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same','reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to thecha-racters. of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.- I,

The present inventionfrelates to improvements in car couplings land pertains more particularly to improved means for facili tating the uncoupling of cars especially when the couplings of the latter are under great strain as when the train is in motion or when it comes to a standstill.

Heretofore it has beenimpossibleto uncouple cars while a train is moving, and, even whenthe train is, not moving it has been necessary to back the same a short distance to relieve the strain upon the various couplings before it is possible to uncouple them and such action not only. takes-time,

but the smashing andjarring incidentthereto, is very detrimental to the said cars. One means for overcoming this obstacle isdisclosed in Patent 'No, 1188321 granted to Morris Sable May 4,1915, and the present invention contemplates certain improve.- ments and modifications on the invention therein set forth. According to thepresent invention it is possible to release the cars even though their coupling members may beunder strain, and this is accomplished bya double link connectionbetweenv the heel of the knuckle of each couplenhead and'a I pivoted releasing pin passed. through/the body of the head when operated through a lever attachment mounted upon the end of the car. This releasing pin-is adapted to be moved so as tocontact with-and break the joint between the two parts of'the double link connection.

panying drawings in whichis illustrated'an embodimentthereot,

In the'drawings: I y 7 Figure 1 is a horizontalsectional view through a couplinghead having oneembodiment of the present invention applied.

thereto, parts beingshown in plan view and with the knuckle and double link. connections shown in closedor locked position. v "Fig. 2' is agsrnaller view of the same coup erih d th he pa t s ow in. p ypr released position. Y Fig. y.3 is a verticahsection taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2"with parts shown in elevatlon, p a

Fig. 4 is a top plan'view of a pairof "coupler heads shown infinterlockedposition;,

Fig. 5 is a fragmental side elevation ofthe operating levers. Y r Fig. G is ayiewsimilarjto Fig. 5 showing the coupler heads' released and slightly spaceda art. j

Figs. and 8 are top plan andside eele vational views respectively of'one of the link members.

' Figs. 9. a'nd 10 a e topplanandltront 616-.-

vational views respectively of the knuckle, nd ig -'1 and. 2 ar p Pl n an f itle elevation respectively of the other link member.

fReferringnow to the drawings let; the numeral 5' designate each, of two cars provided with coupler-heads 6 which are hollow. being 7 provided. with] endfreces ses 8 within. which the. link mechanism herein: after described in detailis mounted,

Within the forwardnpart of each recess ifi on oneside of the head isflpivotally mount- ,ed as, disclO'sedatfQ, a. knuckle 10. Re..- Ifei'ring to ,Figs .,9 and 10 the knuckle 10.. as there shown comprises an integral structure havinga forwardly extending curved part 11 ofconsiderable thickness and an adjacent.

part .12 of less heightthanlthe"part.llzand provided, with. afvertical bore 13 through which is. passedithepivot pin '9, .{lhe third portion of the knuckle comprises. an end ex tension or heel 14 j which. includes a shallow, flat'surface 15 extending rearwardly and provided with a circular opening 16; to which the forwardfend .ofa link member 17 is pivotally' secured. ThelheelportiQ l- 14 is also provided ,witha nelativelyfdeep shoulder part 18 oflessheight, however, n h P t 2 0i 1 'kl i kle T i sh l e 8. t fee h v h el ea f he knuckle and also provides a guide or bear ing plate against which the forward end of the link 17 bears. The link 17 (shown in detail in Figs. 11 and 12) is provided with a depending pin 19 integral therewith and located at its forward extremity. This pin engages the circular opening 16 of the heel 15 of the knuckle 10 and provides a pivotal connection between the two. At its opposite extremity the link 17 is provided with a similar depending circular lug 20 which pivotally engages a circular opening 21 of a second short link 22 the opposite end of which is pivotally connected to a pin 23 secured in the casing of the coupler head diagonally across from the pivot 9. At its rear end the upper portion of the link 17 is formed with a lip 24 from which the metal is cut away at one side to form a gradually downwardly inclined surface 25 and at the other side of which a nick or recess 26 is cut out as best shown in Figs. 3, 11 and 12.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 6 of the drawing, when the opposing coupler heads come together the outer extremity of each knuckle will strike the pivotal connection 19, thereby forcing the heels 15 of the knuckles together with the respective links 17 and 22 within the recess 8, causing the knuckles to engage each other.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noticed that when the knuckles are interlocked the pivotal connection 20 between the links 17 and 22 isthrown to the left of the dead center between the connections 23 and 19, said center being illustrated by the line aa and therefore when a pull is exerted upon the knuckle 11, it will hold firmly since the greater the strain at this point the greater is the pressure of the links 22 and 17 at the pivotal connection 20 against a suitably provided projection 27 formed integral with and at the rear wall of the recess 8, the point of greatest strain being indicated by the arrow B. Thus it will be seen that as long as the connection is to the left of the dead'center, illustrated by the line aa, it will be impossible for the knuckle 11 to swing upon its pivot 9. In order to manipulate the aforesaidconstruction for uncoupling cars, a pivoted releasing pin 28 is provided having a locking head 29 through which a transverse pin 30 is formed at its upper end. The locking pin 28 is also provided witha downwardly extending arm having an elongated slot 31 provided therein. The pin is suspended within'vertical slots formed in the upper and lower coupling head casing and is pivotally supported by the pin 30 which is retained between a couple, of upstanding lugs 32 formed on the top of the casing. The forward lower edge of the locking head 29 of the pin 28 is provided with a shoulder 33 adapted to engage in a nick or recess 26 at the forward edge of the lip 24 of link 17 when the pin is in the full line position illustrated in Fig. 3. In this position the parts are assumed to be locked in coupled relation. A system of manipulating levers is provided at the end of the car comprising a downwardly bent handle 3% which is provided at the end of the inwardly extending rod 35 supported in brackets 36 and 37 secured to the end of the car and coupled at its inner end to a second downwardly ex tending lever 38 the lower extremity of which is provided with an inturned part engaging the slotted portion 31 of releasing pin 28. I

From the foregoing description the operation of the improved device will be readily understood. When it is desired to-uncouple two cars the handle lever 34 is moved from left to right into the dotted line position illustrated in Fig. 5 whereupon the lever 38 will be similarly moved and the releasing pin which is pivotally secured there to is moved from the full line to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3. As this takes place the upper. locking head 29 disenga'ges the lip 24 of the link 17 and at the same time the body member 28 exerts a forward pressure on the pivot 20 between links 22 and 17 causing the latter to move out of the position to dead center and the link 22 and knuckle 11 to swing about their pivots 23 and 9 respectively. The parts of each coupler head are thus moved into the open or uncoupled position illustrated in Fig. 2. It will be understood that by placing the releasing pin 28 in such position as to bear directly upon the pivot 20 an easier and more effective means is provided for uncoupling the car and furthermore it is possible to release the knuckle of the car coupler by this means even though a great strain is being exerted by the pull of the cars at the time of the releasing operation. It will be further seen that the function of the locking head of pin 28 is merely an additional protection against -accidental displacement of the parts for the relative positions of links 22 and 17 are such that it .is impossible for the knuckle 11 to swing into the released position so long as the pivot 20 is beyond or to the rear of the dead center represented by the line aa.

Depending lugs 39 are formed at the lower side of the casing and are positioned in such manner as to extend beneath the pins 9 and 23. These lugs are provided to prevent the accidental loss of either of the pins 9 or 23 in case the upper flattened heads should become broken or worn away. 7

Having described my invention what I claim is: p V

1. In a car coupling. a coupler having a recessed head, a knuckle pivotally mounted within said recess at the forward extremity of the latter, a link having one extremity pivotally connected with the heel of said knuckle, a second link pivotally connected with the opposite extremity of said first named link, the said pivotal connection between the two links when the knuckle is in the locked position being in the rear of the line of force applied to open the knuckle and adapted to lie adjacent the, rear wall of the recess, and a releasing pin supported in said coupler head in the rear of the joint between the said links for throwing the said joint forwardly of said line of force.

2. In a car coupler, a coupler having a recessed head, a knuckle pivotally mounted within said recess, a link having one extremity pivotally connected with the heel of said knuckle, a second link pivotally connected with the opposite extremity of said first named link, one extremity of the second named link being pivotally mounted in the coupler head, and a pivoted releasing memher for breaking the joint between the first and second named links for releasing the coupler.

3. In a car coupler, a coupler having a recessed head, a knuckle pivotally mounted within said recess, a link having one extremity pivotally connected with the heel of said knuckle, a second link pivotally con nected with the opposite extremity of said first named link, one extremity of the second named link being pivotally mounted in the coupler head, and means supported in the within said recess, a link having one extremity pivotally connected with the heel of said knuckle, a second link pivotally connected with the opposite extremity of said first named link, one extremity of the second named link being pivotally mounted in the coupler head, and means adapted to bear directly upon the joint between the two links for breaking the said joint to release the coupler.

5. In a car coupler, acoupler having a recessed head, a knuckle pivotally mounted within said recess, a link having one extremity' pivotally connected with the heel of said knuckle, a second link pivotally connected with the opposite extremity of said first named link, oneextremity of the said second named link being pivotally mounted in the coupler head, means for releasing the coupler and lugs'secured to the lower side of the latter and adapted to project beneath the pivots of the. knuckle and the second named link for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT FoULDs.

Witnesses:

HELEN A, VILLEMAGNE, O. E. PARSONS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

